Epstein-Barr Virus-Positive T/NK-Cell Lymphoproliferative Diseases in Chinese Mainland

Epstein-Barr virus-positive T/NK-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (EBV+ T/NK LPD) encompass a heterogeneous group of disorders, including chronic active Epstein–Barr virus infection (CAEBV), Epstein-Barr virus-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (EBV-HLH), systemic EBV+ T-cell lymphoma of childhood and hydroa vacciniforme-like lymphoproliferative disorder (HVLPD) and so on, predominantly affecting children and young adults with high mortality. Patients with EBV+ T/NK LPD have overlapping clinical symptoms as well as histologic and immunophenotypic features. In this review, we summarized the clinical features of EBV+ T/NK LPD in Chinese patients from the published articles

Advertising Bans and the Substitutability of Online and Offline Advertising

The authors examine whether the growth of the Internet has reduced the effectiveness of government regulation of advertising. They combine nonexperimental variation in local regulation of offline alcohol advertising with data from field tests that randomized exposure to online advertising for 275 different online advertising campaigns to 61,580 people. The results show that people are 8% less likely to say that they will purchase an alcoholic beverage in states that have alcohol advertising bans compared with states that do not. For consumers exposed to online advertising, this gap narrows to 3%. There are similar effects for four changes in local offline alcohol advertising restrictions when advertising effectiveness is observed both before and after the change. The effect of online advertising is disproportionately high for new products and for products with low awareness in places that have bans. This suggests that online advertising could reduce the effectiveness of attempts to regulate offline advertising channels because online advertising substitutes for (rather than complements) offline advertising.Google (Firm)WPP (Firm

Global respiratory syncytial virus–related infant community deaths

Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of pediatric death, with >99% of mortality occurring in low- and lower middle-income countries. At least half of RSV-related deaths are estimated to occur in the community, but clinical characteristics of this group of children remain poorly characterized. Methods The RSV Global Online Mortality Database (RSV GOLD), a global registry of under-5 children who have died with RSV-related illness, describes clinical characteristics of children dying of RSV through global data sharing. RSV GOLD acts as a collaborative platform for global deaths, including community mortality studies described in this supplement. We aimed to compare the age distribution of infant deaths <6 months occurring in the community with in-hospital. Results We studied 829 RSV-related deaths <1 year of age from 38 developing countries, including 166 community deaths from 12 countries. There were 629 deaths that occurred <6 months, of which 156 (25%) occurred in the community. Among infants who died before 6 months of age, median age at death in the community (1.5 months; IQR: 0.8−3.3) was lower than in-hospital (2.4 months; IQR: 1.5−4.0; P < .0001). The proportion of neonatal deaths was higher in the community (29%, 46/156) than in-hospital (12%, 57/473, P < 0.0001). Conclusions We observed that children in the community die at a younger age. We expect that maternal vaccination or immunoprophylaxis against RSV will have a larger impact on RSV-related mortality in the community than in-hospital. This case series of RSV-related community deaths, made possible through global data sharing, allowed us to assess the potential impact of future RSV vaccines

Analysis of EBNA-1 and LMP-1 variants in diseases associated with EBV infection in Chinese children

Abstract Background In China, primary EBV infection occurs during childhood with seroprevalence reaching about 100% by 10 years of age. There are few studies on EBV variants in diseases associated with EBV infection in Chinese children. In this study, we investigated the diversity of the EBV genes (EBNA-1 and LMP-1) and the relationship between EBV variants and the clinical phenotypes in diseases associated with EBV infections in Chinese pediatric cases. Results The frequencies of EBV type I in the IM, HLH and HL samples were 98.4%, 100% and 95.8%, respectively. Three known EBNA-1 variants were identified, including V-val (all were V-val-v1 sub-variant), P-thr' and V-Leu (MT). The frequency of V-val-v1 was 98.6% in the IM samples, 100% in the HLH samples and 97.1% in the HL samples. There were no significant differences of the distribution of EBNA-1 variants between IM, HLH and HL samples (P > 0.05). Three known LMP-1 variants, including China 1, China 2 and Med, were identified and China 1 was predominant in all groups (IM 88.6%, HLH 100% and HL 100%). The frequency of del-LMP-1 was 88.6% in the IM samples, 100% in the HLH samples and 96.0% in the HL samples. There were no significant differences in the frequency of del-LMP-1 between the IM, HLH and HL samples (P > 0.05). The frequency of XhoI loss was 90.6% in the IM samples, 100% in the HLH samples and 100% in the HL samples, with no significant difference in frequency (P > 0.05). In the EBV type I strain, V-val-v1 variant (EBNA-1) was linked with China1 variant (LMP-1) in 88.9% of the IM samples, 100% of the HLH samples and 80.0% of the HL samples in this study. Conclusions Type I EBV was the most prevalent subtype EBV in Chinese pediatric cases and V-val-v1 (EBNA-1) and China1 (LMP-1) variants were the most dominant variants. There was a strong linkage between V-val-v1 (EBNA-1) variant and China1 (LMP-1) variant in type I EBV. The sequence variation in EBV genes may represent a geographic polymorphism since no preferential associations were found between specific EBV variants and specific diseases in this study.</p

Genome-Wide Identification and Molecular Characterization of the Growth-Regulating Factors-Interacting Factor Gene Family in Tomato

Growth-regulating factors-interacting factor (GIF) proteins play crucial roles in the regulation of plant growth and development. However, the molecular mechanism of GIF proteins in tomato is poorly understood. Here, four SlGIF genes (named SlGRF1a, SlGIF1b, SlGIF2, and SlGIF3) were identified from the tomato genome and clustered into two major clades by phylogenetic analysis. The gene structure and motif pattern analyses showed similar exon/intron patterns and motif organizations in all the SlGIFs. We identified 33 cis-acting regulatory elements (CAREs) in the promoter regions of the SlGIFs. The expression profiling revealed the four GIFs are expressed in various tissues and stages of fruit development and induced by phytohormones (IAA and GA). The subcellular localization assays showed all four GIFs were located in nucleus. The yeast two-hybrid assay indicated various growth-regulating factors (SlGRFs) proteins interacted with the four SlGIF proteins. However, SlGRF4 was a common interactor with the SlGIF proteins. Moreover, a higher co-expression relationship was shown between three SlGIF genes and five SlGRF genes. The protein association network analysis found a chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein (CHD) and an actin-like protein to be associated with the four SlGIF proteins. Overall, these results will improve our understanding of the potential functions of GIF genes and act as a base for further functional studies on GIFs in tomato growth and development

Etiology and prognosis of acute viral encephalitis and meningitis in Chinese children: a multicentre prospective study

Abstract Background In China, there were few studies about the pathogens of acute viral encephalitis and meningitis in children in recent years. The aims of this study were to characterize the etiology and prognosis of acute viral encephalitis and meningitis in Chinese children. Methods This was a multicentre prospective study. Two hundred and sixty one viral encephalitis patients and 285 viral meningitis patients were enrolled. The mean age of viral encephalitis and meningitis were 5.88 ± 3.60 years and 6.39 ± 3.57 years, respectively. Real-time reverse transcription PCR and multiplex PCR were used to detect human enteroviruses and herpes viruses in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with encephalitis or meningitis. The enzyme-linked immune absorbent assay (ELISA) was used for detecting IgM antibody against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in CSF and against mumps virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), dengue virus and rubella virus in acute serum. The clinical and outcome data were collected during patients’ hospitalization. Results The etiology of viral encephalitis was confirmed in 52.5% patients. The primary pathogen was human enteroviruses (27.7%) in viral encephalitis. The incidence of sequelae and the fatality rate of viral encephalitis with confirmed etiology were 7.5% and 0.8%, respectively. The etiology of viral meningitis was identified in 42.8% cases. The leading pathogen was also human enteroviruses (37.7%) in viral meningitis. The prognosis of viral meningitis was favorable with only 0.7% patients had neurological sequelae. Conclusions Human enteroviruses were the leading cause both in acute viral encephalitis and viral meningitis in children. The incidence of sequelae and fatality rate of viral encephalitis with confirmed etiology were 7.5% and 0.8%, respectively. The prognosis of viral meningitis was favorable compared to viral encephalitis